Tag: family time

Christmas time is really the most wonderful and magical time of the year especially for children. It is important to get prepared for it together. Here are some basic steps how to get prepared for the holiday season and decorate your home with your little ones.

1. Let the Music Play

Before starting, turn the classic Christmas songs on to create the festive mood. Music is great for every occasion, but for the holidays it’s extra magical. Here are some music ideas.

2. Choose Your Colour Scheme

Choosing the perfect Christmas decorations is far simpler with a colour scheme in mind. You can choose traditional red and green combo or go further and pick new contemporary colour combinations.

Here are some Christmas colour palette ideas.

3. Christmas Tree

The main attraction of the holiday season is the Christmas tree, so this should be your first port of call when you look to decorate your home for Christmas. It is very symbolic to use old ornaments from your childhood and tell stories and explain why those are special to you. Tell them that they can make a wish while hanging the first Christmas tree ornament. Make this process as fun and meaningful as you can. In case you need some ideas for Christmas tree decoration check out my special Pinterest board.

4. Deck the Halls and Kids Room

There are many simple touches you can add to the rest of your home to create a stylish festive look. A Christmas wreath is an essential festive accessory not just for the front door, wreaths can also be used throughout the home, suspended on mirrors or on internal doors. A small variety of garlands and other ornaments can also be utilised to decorate your halls or kids room.

Do not forget about windows. Here are some Christmas windows decorating ideas for you so you’ll never forget to furnish those windows, whether it is small, big, has wide window sills or not. Such simple windows would be magnificent and ready for the festivities in no time.

5. DIY with kids

DIY projects with your little ones teach valuable hands-on skills that are even more important in today’s screen-heavy environment. First of all, they get the satisfaction of creating something with their own hands, they become more patient and creative. Also, this is a perfect activity for the season of gratitude, they can make ornaments or gifts on their own for the others. What can be a better way of gratitude than by making something for them. The creative act, paired with our appreciation of others, is a wonderful way to express gratitude for the people who do so much for us. DIY with kids is the best way to teach them all these values through play. Kids DIY projects that you can start right now.

6. Letter to Santa

Writing a letter to Santa can be such an exciting activity for kids. This is a great time of year to show your children the joy of kindness and empathy. Writing a letter to Santa, beside personal wishes, can include a request for someone else – a good friend, sibling or less-fortunate child. Ask your child who they would like Santa to help this season. Empathy is a new feeling for small children and must be supported by their parents. Let children know that Christmas isn’t just about getting stuff. Teaching your child that empathy is at the root of love and faith can be folded into a wonderful tradition that includes writing a letter to Santa Claus.

Here are free printable templates for Santa letter

7. Family Movie Time

When all the decorations are up and you’re ready for some quality family time amid the chaos of the season, there’s nothing better than curling up on the couch with some Christmas cookies, hot chocolate and a holiday flick. Don’t know what to watch? Here are a few suggestions:

Chores can help develop a sense of responsibility and self worth in your child. It should be understood by all family members they are expected and necessary to a household running successfully and efficiently. They can help create a sense of unity and family and is a great place for your child to learn about teamwork. Parents should take special care to handle the delegation of chores to children so they don’t become a source of frustration or create arguments.

Allow your child to have an active say in the delegation of chores. Give them choices. We all have household chores that we don’t like to do, but if it’s a chore the child enjoys doing then there’s less likelihood it will create a battle in the end. The child will most likely appreciate having the chance to be heard and having a choice.

It’s imperative that you set parameters early on for the successful completion of a chore. They may not perform up to snuff when they first start performing the chore, but show them where improvement is needed and praise them for a strong effort. Also make sure the child understands there will be repercussions if they only put forth a minimal effort. Ensure the child understands the need for the chore’s effective and efficient completion. Set consequences for substandard completion as a team. Make sure they see that if they don’t perform their chores, it affects the other members of the team. Spouses must work together and be a strong example for their children by completing their own chores each day. And don’t allow a child to undermine your authority by battling with you over a designated chore. Stand your ground and don’t give in, and emphasize the consequence and negative effect an uncompleted chore has on the family.

And keep an open mind when a child wants to discuss their thoughts or express their opinions about chores. Make sure the conversation stays positive and on target.

Christmas time is really the most wonderful and magical time of the year especially for children. It is important to get prepared for it together. Here are some basic steps how to get prepared for the holiday season and decorate your home with your little ones.

1. Let the Music Play

Before starting, turn the classic Christmas songs on to create the festive mood. Music is great for every occasion, but for the holidays it’s extra magical. Here are some music ideas.

2. Choose Your Colour Scheme

Choosing the perfect Christmas decorations is far simpler with a colour scheme in mind. You can choose traditional red and green combo or go further and pick new contemporary colour combinations.

Here are some Christmas colour palette ideas.

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3. Christmas Tree

The main attraction of the holiday season is the Christmas tree, so this should be your first port of call when you look to decorate your home for Christmas. It is very symbolic to use old ornaments from your childhood and tell stories and explain why those are special to you. Tell them that they can make a wish while hanging the first Christmas tree ornament. Make this process as fun and meaningful as you can. In case you need some ideas for Christmas tree decoration check out my special Pinterest board.

4. Deck the Halls and Kids Room

There are many simple touches you can add to the rest of your home to create a stylish festive look. AChristmas wreath is an essential festive accessory not just for the front door, wreaths can also be used throughout the home, suspended on mirrors or on internal doors. A small variety of garlands and other ornaments can also be utilised to decorate your halls or kids room.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Do not forget about windows. Here are some Christmas windows decorating ideas for you so you’ll never forget to furnish those windows, whether it is small, big, has wide window sills or not. Such simple windows would be magnificent and ready for the festivities in no time.

5. DIY with kids

DIY projects with your little ones teach valuable hands-on skills that are even more important in today’s screen-heavy environment. First of all, they get the satisfaction of creating something with their own hands, they become more patient and creative. Also, this is a perfect activity for the season of gratitude, they can make ornaments or gifts on their own for the others. What can be a better way of gratitude than by making something for them. The creative act, paired with our appreciation of others, is a wonderful way to express gratitude for the people who do so much for us. DIY with kids is the best way to teach them all these values through play. Kids DIY projects that you can start right now.

6. Letter to Santa

Writing a letter to Santa can be such an exciting activity for kids. This is a great time of year to show your children the joy of kindness and empathy. Writing a letter to Santa, beside personal wishes, can include a request for someone else – a good friend, sibling or less-fortunate child. Ask your child who they would like Santa to help this season. Empathy is a new feeling for small children and must be supported by their parents. Let children know that Christmas isn’t just about getting stuff. Teaching your child that empathy is at the root of love and faith can be folded into a wonderful tradition that includes writing a letter to Santa Claus.

Here are free printable templates for Santa letter

7. Family Movie Time

When all the decorations are up and you’re ready for some quality family time amid the chaos of the season, there’s nothing better than curling up on the couch with some Christmas cookies, hot chocolate and a holiday flick. Don’t know what to watch? Here are a few suggestions:

Even the best behaved toddler has an occasional temper tantrum. A tantrum can range from whining and crying to screaming, kicking, hitting, and breath holding. They’re equally common in boys and girls and usually occur from age 1 to age 3. Some children may experience regular tantrums, whereas for other children, tantrums may be rare. Some kids are more prone to throwing a temper tantrum than others.

Toddlers are trying to master the world and when they aren’t able to accomplish a task, they often use one of the only tools at their disposal for venting frustration – a tantrum. There are several basic causes of tantrums that are familiar to parents everywhere: The child is seeking attention or is tired, hungry, or uncomfortable. In addition, tantrums are often the result of children’s frustration with the world. Frustration is an unavoidable part of kids’ lives as they learn how people, objects, and their own bodies work.

Tantrums are common during the second year of life, a time when children are acquiring language. Toddlers generally understand more than they can express. As language skills improve, tantrums tend to decrease.

Keep off-limits objects out of sight and out of reach, which will make struggles less likely to develop over them. Distract your child. Take advantage of your little one’s short attention span by offering a replacement for the coveted object or beginning a new activity to replace the frustrating or forbidden one. And choose your battles: consider the request carefully when your child wants something. Is it outrageous? Maybe it isn’t. Accommodate when possible to avoid an outburst.

Make sure your child isn’t acting up simply because he or she isn’t getting enough attention. To a child, negative attention (a parent’s response to a tantrum) is better than no attention at all. Try to establish a habit of catching your child being good (“time in”), which means rewarding your little one with attention and praise for positive behavior. This will teach them that acting appropriately makes mommy and daddy happy and proud, and they’ll be anxious to do it again and again.

Regular schedules provide the day with a structure that orders a young child’s world. Although predictability can be tiresome for adults, children thrive on repetition and routine. Schedules begin from the first days of life. Babies, especially, need regular sleep and meal programs and even routines leading up to those activities.

As they gets older, when a child knows what is going to happen and who is going to be there, it allows them to think and feel more independently, and feel more safe and secure. A disrupted routine can set a child off and cause them to feel insecure and irritable.

Dinnertime is a great place to start setting a routine. Sitting together at the dinner table gives children the opportunity to share their day and talk about their feelings. This is also a great time to include some responsibility in your child’s routine, such as helping to set or clear the table.

And regardless of how exhausted you or your children may be, don’t be tempted to skip winding down from the day. This is part of a nighttime ritual and allows both child and parent to decompress after a busy day. It also helps bedtime go more smoothly. This is usually the time of day when parent and child can spend some quality time together, so fight the urge to start the laundry or do the dishes until after the child has gone to bed. If this isn’t possible, consider trading off these duties with your spouse each night to ensure your child has quality time with each parent on a regular basis. Take the time to find out what wind-down strategy works best for your child. Some children are actually energized instead of relaxed by a warm bath, so if that’s the case with your child, bath time should be saved for a different time of day. Whatever routine you settle on, make it quiet, relaxing, and tranquil for everyone.

And though routines are essential, there should be some room to be flexible as well. You might be out late at night on a family outing, have unexpected company show up that may result in a skipped meal or nap in the car while running errands in the evening. In these instances, it’s important for you to keep your cool. If you express frustration or anger about disrupting the routine, your child will as well. Prepare children for such unexpected events and show them that though it can happen from time to time, the routine will return the next day.